Jon Rahm achieved a 36-hole first when taking the lead of the Northern Trust at the halfway stage.
Rahm, the world number one, was bogey-free through 36 holes for the first time in his career after adding a second-round 67 to his opening 63 at Liberty National in New Jersey.
Ireland's Rory McIlroy sank a four-foot putt at the last to make the cut on one under. McIlroy recovered from an early double-bogey for a second round 70.
Seamus Power’s second round four-over 67 moves him to five-under for the tournament. A closing double bogey on the 18th proving a disappointing end to an otherwise impressive round. Shane Lowry is a shot further adrift on four-under after a 67 of his own.
“It’s nice to be bogey-free but it’s not like it’s goal number one,” Rahm told the Golf Channel after taking a one-shot advantage over Tony Finau in the opening FedEx Cup play-off event. The low numbers set up some weekend dramatics at the first leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs. Only the top 70 in Cup points following this tournament will qualify for next week’s BMW Championship.
“The goal is to win a tournament, to put yourself in the best position. If I had to choose I’d rather be leading than bogey-free.”
Asked what pleased him most about his play, Rahm replied: “The way I’ve kept my composure. Believe it or not, I’ve hit my share of bad shots and leave myself putts for par.
“But much like yesterday I was able to save a couple of good ones. Coming to the weekend I’m definitely going to have to clean a couple of those mistakes up.”
Finau’s 64 placed him one back from Rahm on 11 under and one ahead of Justin Thomas.
American Thomas had shared the overnight lead with Rahm, but four bogeys on his front nine dropped him back down the field.
Thomas, however, rallied with three birdies and an eagle in four of his last five holes.
Keith Mitchell and Olympic champion Xander Schauffele — whose 62 tied the course record, a score later equalled by Jordan Spieth — joined Thomas in a tie for third with four players one shot further back.
Lee Westwood was five shots adrift of Rahm after a 65 featuring seven birdies.
Collated second round scores and totals (USA unless stated, Par 71)
130 Jon Rahm (Spa) 63 67
131 Tony Finau 67 64
132 Keith Mitchell 68 64, Xander Schauffele 70 62, Justin Thomas 63 69
133 Tom Hoge 69 64, Kevin Na 67 66, Alexander Noren (Swe) 69 64, Harold Varner III 66 67
134 Brooks Koepka 70 64, Jordan Spieth 72 62
135 Patrick Cantlay 68 67, Viktor Hovland (Nor) 68 67, Robert Streb 67 68, Cameron Tringale 67 68, Lee Westwood (Eng) 70 65
136 Keegan Bradley 69 67, Bryson DeChambeau 71 65, Mackenzie Hughes (Can) 67 69, Sung Jae Im (Kor) 71 65, Zach Johnson 70 66, Hudson Swafford 71 65, Erik van Rooyen (Rsa) 69 67, Aaron Wise 69 67
137 Harris English 69 68, Lanto Griffin 69 68, Garrick Higgo (Rsa) 69 68, Patton Kizzire 70 67, Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 69 68, Sebastian Munoz (Col) 68 69, Pat Perez 71 66, Seamus Power (Irl) 70 67, Chez Reavie 71 66, Adam Schenk 73 64, Cameron Smith (Aus) 69 68
138 Sam Burns 71 67, Cameron Champ 68 70, Joel Dahmen 70 68, Brian Harman 72 66, Charley Hoffman 73 65, Anirban Lahiri (Ind) 69 69, Shane Lowry (Irl) 71 67, Ian Poulter (Eng) 72 66, Scottie Scheffler 70 68, Webb Simpson 72 66
139 Stewart Cink 71 68, Corey Conners (Can) 70 69, Cameron Davis (Aus) 69 70, Harry Higgs 69 70, Kyoung-Hoon Lee (Kor) 71 68, Marc Leishman (Aus) 69 70, Peter Malnati 70 69, Maverick McNealy 69 70, Carlos Ortiz (Mex) 69 70, Andrew Putnam 69 70, Kevin Streelman 69 70
140 Talor Gooch 73 67, Russell Henley 69 71, Kramer Hickok 72 68, Max Homa 74 66, Chris Kirk 72 68, Brandt Snedeker 72 68
141 Abraham Ancer (Mex) 72 69, Daniel Berger 71 70, Paul Casey (Eng) 70 71, Dylan Frittelli (Rsa) 70 71, Doug Ghim 71 70, James Hahn 71 70, Billy Horschel 71 70, Luke List 71 70, Denny McCarthy 73 68, Rory McIlroy (NIrl) 71 70, Joaquin Niemann (Chi) 71 70, Scott Piercy 71 70, Gary Woodland 71 70
The following players did not make the half-way cut:
142 Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 70 72, Dustin Johnson 70 72, Si Woo Kim (Kor) 72 70, Russell Knox (Sco) 70 72, Jason Kokrak 70 72, Martin Laird (Sco) 73 69, Tyler McCumber 72 70, Ryan Palmer 73 69, Sam Ryder 72 70, Adam Scott (Aus) 67 75, Kyle Stanley 75 67, Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 70 72
143 Matthew Fitzpatrick (Eng) 73 70, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 75 68, Brice Garnett 72 71, Lucas Glover 74 69, Chesson Hadley 75 68, Adam Long 72 71, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 72 71, Sepp Straka (Aut) 73 70, Bubba Watson 71 72
144 Branden Grace (Rsa) 71 73, Tyrrell Hatton (Eng) 72 72, Collin Morikawa 74 70, Matthew NeSmith 74 70
145 Brian Gay 72 73, Adam Hadwin (Can) 75 70, Hank Lebioda 76 69, Troy Merritt 72 73, Phil Mickelson 73 72, Henrik Norlander (Swe) 70 75, Chengtsung Pan (Tai) 74 71, Doc Redman 73 72, Scott Stallings 74 71, Brendan Steele 78 67, Brian Stuard 73 72
146 Jason Day (Aus) 73 73
147 Brandon Hagy 78 69, Richy Werenski 76 71
148 Wyndham Clark 78 70, Brendon Todd 73 75
149 Matt Jones (Aus) 79 70, Matt Kuchar 75 74
150 Kevin Kisner 76 74, Matthew Wolff 76 74
151 Roger Sloan (Can) 79 72
153 JT Poston 76 77
